The Lessons of Wi-Fi #8: You Can Fund Your Wi-Fi Deployment By Rightsizing Your Wired LAN.

By any measure the California State University (CSU) system is enormous, encompassing 23 different campuses, nearly 450,000 students, and 48,000 faculty and staff.

Recently the university system was faced with a massive and potentially hugely expensive wired network refresh to upgrade infrastructure that was approaching the end of its service life. At the same time, the CSU system was experiencing a surge in the demand for network access across all of its campuses. In the absence of a budget for a Wi-Fi solution, which would have allowed one wired port to be simultaneously shared among many users, the IT staff was concerned that the need for Ethernet ports and switches would double.

What would you do in this circumstance? Expand the wired network? Seek additional funds for a wireless initiative? Restrict access to the network?

Those who forget the lessons of Wi-Fi are doomed to repeat them. Lesson #8: you can fund your Wi-Fi deployment by rightsizing your wired LAN.

Cisco suggests that the right solution was to expand the wired network with perhaps a smattering of wireless in lecture halls. Why? In a paper titled True-Sizing the Network, Cisco claims that Ethernet is future proof, more secure, and more reliable than wireless networks. In fact it marginalizes Wi-Fi, relegating it to situations in which Ethernet cannot otherwise be used.

The twisted “true-sizing” message short changes end users because it fails to take into consideration changes in user preferences, markets trends, and technology that have occurred in recent years:

• iSuppli reports that shipments of laptops surpassed desktops (38.6M vs. 38.5M) in 3 Q 08;
• Yankee Group estimates that enterprises with no Wi-Fi access will drop from 43% in 2006 to just 3% in 2012;
• Burton Group states that 802.11n marks the beginning of the end for wired Ethernet as the dominant LAN access technology in the enterprise;
• Best-in-class Wi-Fi networks sport WPA2 encryption, wireless intrusion detection, policy enforcement firewalls, and FIPS 140-2/Common Criteria/DoD validation - making them equal or more secure than most wired networks.

The best solutions for end users originatefrom understanding how and where they want to use the network, and then designing networks that meet those needs.

Aruba's network rightsizing program defines just such a process - measure wired port utilization, consolidate ports in use into fewer switches, and deploy 802.11n wireless to address mobility needs. Use Wi-Fi everywhere you can, wired networks only where you must. If savings are to be had, the rightsizing analysis process will tease them out. If not, then that will also be made clear. Either way, the network rightsizing analysis will offer insights into network and port utilization that might not be intuitively obvious.

Returning to CSU, what the IT staff decided to do was to obtain more data by measuring wired port usage. What they found surprised them: wired ports across all 23 campuses were consistently underutilized. More than half of the wired ports had passed no packets during the previous six months.

Armed with these data, the team decided to embark on a new approach. Instead of upgrading the entire wired network, something they had historically done every 4-5 years, they looked at the opportunity before them with fresh eyes.

Wi-Fi was determined to be a reliable, low-cost option for delivering pervasive campus connectivity. Several campuses had already deployed some Aruba wireless LAN equipment, mostly for coverage in selected high-usage areas, and San Diego State University had built a relatively large WLAN on their campus. The Aruba WLAN had proven to be highly secure, scalable and reliable. It also allowed for a scaled-back refresh of the wired network, saving money by limiting upgrades only to the wired ports that were actually used.

CSU's IT staff created a database that included every telecommunication room, the number of ports in each room, and the number of those ports that were actively used. A formula was developed to define the refresh requirements of each of the 23 campuses based on this measurement.

By applying this formula across all 23 campuses, CSU was able to save approximately $30 million by reducing the scale of the wired network refresh and enhancing network access with Aruba’s Wi-Fi solutions.

The CSU system still uses wired networks but they've been rightsized to address actual and projected utilization. Wireless network utilization has risen sharply, because users are taking advantage of the mobility afforded by the expanded 802.11n network. And CSU saved a whopping big chunk of change that can be applied to other programs and opportunities.

Network rightsizing is a proven method of assessing and adjusting your network infrastructure. The California State University rightsizing program is a testament to the validity and value of the rightsizing model.

While the rightsizing mantra is to use wireless wherever you can, wired only where you must, the model makes no presumptions about the right mix of wired and wireless access. Proponents of “true-sizing” maintain no such neutrality. Their bias towards Ethernet marginalizes Wi-Fi, and in so doing deprives end users of the potential cost savings and mobility/efficiency gains that organizations like CSU have obtained.

Companies That Can't Innovate Replicate...Or Just Whine

A funny thing happened while Aruba was on the way to market with its innovative Virtual Branch Network (VBN) solution and "network rightsizing" initiative - Cisco got hot and bothered.

Just after the VBN solution received the 2009 Best of Interop Las Vegas Award in the Wireless & Mobility category (http://bit.ly/aUocV), Joel Conover, senior manager, network systems at Cisco called the new 600 Series Branch Office Controller "a travesty" (http://bit.ly/KOmNv). He then claimed that Cisco offered the same capabilities with a new product...but only when used behind an expensive Cisco 800 Series ISR Router. Why does Cisco need an expensive WAN router when Aruba VBN does not, even for the entry level $99 list RAP-2?

Aruba's rightsizing initiative promotes the use of Wi-Fi everywhere it can be used, wired networks only where they must be used. Rightsizing is a three step process whereby users assess current wired LAN utilization using a tool like StatSeeker (on average 30-40% of wired ports aren't used at all), consolidate switches and scale service plans/cooling/power consumption to match, and then invest the savings in upgrading the Wi-Fi network to 802.11n. Simple and logical, right? If you can save money you should. If your network is already rightsizied then the most you've invested is some time verifying that's the case.

Customer reaction to rightsizing has been nothing short of amazing. The California State University System identified $30M of savings by shifting from wired networks to Wi-Fi (http://bit.ly/uvjbu).

Cisco, however, had a different reaction.When John Cox published an article in Network World titled "Is it time to cut the Ethernet access cable?" (http://bit.ly/3cG4t) in which he noted that pervasive WLANs leave costly wired ports idle, Cisco flipped. Chris Kozup, ironically titled senior manager for mobility solutions at Cisco, maintained that an Ethernet cable is exactly what everyone needs. Aruba's right-sizing is a "shortsighted message from a wireless-only provider. It's penny-wise and pound-foolish." Using Wi-Fi as the primary form of network access is inflexible and the benefits exaggerated, he said.

And yet....Cisco itself released a report stating that its own employees average 90 minutes per day of additional productive time using Wi-Fi (http://bit.ly/UNHQd). So why is Cisco so aggressively pushing wired LANs on customers?

The answer to both questions can be found in Cisco's business model, which depends on profits generated from selling overpriced wired routers and wired ports. The big R&D bucks go to the wired side of the house, which is perhaps one reason why Cisco's lackluster wireless LANs are missing innovative features like application awareness and adaptive response to changes in local RF conditions.

Cisco's focus on wired LANs and lack of wireless innovation has resulted in two consistent forms of behavior: attempts to replicate features found in Aruba's innovative products (Cisco's new band steering feature and the changes in their newest network management console appear to be almost exact replicas of Aruba features); and whining, as exemplified in the articles above.

If you want real innovation, look to companies that identify problems and deliver creative solutions. Replicators and whiners need not apply.

Green IT: Wireless Saves Money, Helps The Planet

Earlier postings on this blog highlighted the environmental downsides of wired LANs, and the benefits of using a Wi-Fi network as the primary means of accessing an enterprise network. For many readers, however, money is where the rubber meets the road. Is it possible to champion Green IT by shifting to Wi-Fi AND save money?

As a staunch advocate of both Green IT and wireless, Aruba felt it should validate what it preaches by rightsizing its own enterprise network - eliminating as much of the wired LAN as possible, replacing it with a wireless network, and then assessing the savings, if any. Under the leadership of our Senior IT Director, Murali Mahalingam, we did just that - we rightsized Aruba’s IT infrastructure. In the process we not only dramatically lowered expenses but also increased employee productivity and reduced the company’s resource footprint.

The first step was to review the performance of both our wired and wireless LANs to determine which best satisfied the majority of our application requirements while offering the lowest cost method of network access. The wireless LAN (WLAN) was determined superior on both counts. As a result we deployed high-speed 802.11n WLANs for >90% of our 500+ employees, and used a traditional wired LAN only for those employees who needed Gigabit Ethernet speeds in excess of the capability of the WLAN.

A single WLAN was configured for data and voice applications for use by all Aruba employees located at our corporate headquarters, remote, branch offices, and home offices. We averaged roughly 15 users per wireless access point. We also provided this solution to the road warriors in our sales force, all of whom connect to the network while traveling.

We also enable true mobility for users by providing wireless connections for voice clients (such as Wi-Fi connected desk phones from snom) and dual-mode Wi-Fi/cellular handsets for all employees at our corporate headquarters, remote, branch offices.

Finally, we replaced virtual private network (VPN) clients and secure tokens with Aruba’s Remote Access Point (RAP) technology for all road warriors and employees who work remotely from home offices. RAP is a low-cost solution that combines a wireless access point with VPN security and policy enforcement firewall. The beauty of RAP is that it does not require any software to be installed on the laptop, PDA, smart phone or other devices with which it is used. RAP is also plug-and play: following initial provisioning by the IT department, no further management or configuration of the RAP is needed. Instead, the employee simply plugs the RAP into a local network (or plugs in a 3G cellular modem) and RAP automatically establishes a secure tunnel with our primary or back-up data center, establishes the corporate SSID, and initiates a secure session for both data and voice (including corporate phone extension calling).

These steps enabled us to simplify our wiring closets by converting a large portion of wired ports to wireless. As a result we needed many fewer data switches. This reduced data room power consumption, increased operating time from our back-up battery uninterruptible power supply (UPS), and reduced cooling loading on our air conditioning system. The net result has been a lower utility bill and a reduction in the tons of CO2 emissions per year associated with equipment cooling.

We were also able to lower cabling and IT support costs associated with office adds, moves, and changes. These might seem incidental, but for many enterprises the costs and wasted cabling quickly add up. For example, we recently merged a nearby engineering center for our AirWave division into our corporate headquarters facility. By leveraging our wireless network instead of installing 2-4 new cable drops per relocated employee, we used 10km less Category 5 copper cable.

From a sustainability perspective, cable insulation, cable management/trunking systems, and wiring device accessories like plugs and boots, are make of PVC, polyethylene, polypropylene, synthetic rubber, MIC, nylon, and phenol formaldehyde. Each of the constituent chemicals has an impact on the environment when the part is made, when it’s used, should it catch fire, and when it is discarded. For example PVC is a commonly used insulation material, and contains lead and other toxic chemicals. Not only does it require special handling at the disposal site – something it rarely receives – but it produces highly toxic chemicals when burned. Polyethylene, polypropylene, synthetic rubber, and nylon are only slightly less toxic. See The Green Building Handbook for more details about the environmental impact of wiring according to energy consumption, resource consumption, global warming, acid rain, ozone depletion, toxicity, photochemical smog, occupational health, recycling impact, and hormone disruption

In terms of expense reduction (read monetary savings), we were able to reduce corporate telecom expenses by using voice-over-Wi-Fi at our headquarters, remote offices and home office locations. When a user goes home and turns on his/her laptop, they are automatically logged into the corporate LAN via RAP. Their Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone will auto-register and support corporate VOIP calls instantly with no additional set up. A user with a Wi-Fi enabled mobile phone can dial a 4-digit extension number to call colleagues in a branch office anywhere in the world at no cost. Additionally, the user can make external calls leveraging the corporate IP PBX. Both of these benefits decrease billable cell phone usage, lowering our telecommunication expenses.

Off-site meetings at shows and partner events are also less expensive since a single RAP provides all attendees with access to the corporate network. Some RAP models include 3G cellular connections, allowing low-cost cellular to be used in lieu of expensive convention/hotel Ethernet for WAN connectivity. No client software or IT overhead is required to handle such meetings.

Additional savings were achieved with respect to our work with business partners. For example, Aruba’s offshore SAP Managed Services Team, based in India, was set up in less than one day for about 20 shared-service resources. Only a one-time set up of all user accounts was required on the wireless controller. RAP devices were shipped to the SAP consultant in India, who had only to plug them into a local WAN to obtain secure access to our SAP implementation and voice over Wi-Fi calling. We’re current expanding this model to other Aruba business partners and hundreds of remote and mobile workers.

As a result of this project, Aruba reduced the utilization of costly wired ports by overlaying wireless LAN access for the majority of our work force. We reduced the number of closet switches and lowered power and cooling requirements up to 20%. Employee office moves no longer require IT support as the users can now sign-on to a single corporate SSID from anywhere in the world using wireless access. Deploying a wireless office saved on upfront, non-refundable costs such as a cubicle wiring - this has reduced IT network administration costs by 10-15%. Mobile employees can now connect their laptops to the corporate LAN without local IT assistance, regardless of the county in which they’re operating. This eliminates the need for local IT network administrators in branch offices. Nor is IT assistance required to install VPN clients, issue secure tokens, or deal with VPN misconfiguration and client problems. By deploying RAP devices with build in VPN capabilities, we actually gained more control and insight into remote clients for trouble-shooting purposes.

Assumptions
Total # of network users: 500
Size of existing facilities (in square feet): 60,000
Average number moves/add/changes per year, per employee: 0.50

Estimated Cost of the legacy wired network
Number of switch ports required to support current users: 1,200
Number of access layer switches required for current usage: 26
Annual Capital Expense to support the 'Wired Edge': $182,888
Annual Operating Expense to support the 'Wired Edge': $83,417
Total annual cost of the 'Wired Edge': $266,305

The New 'Rightsized Network'
Number of switch ports decommissioned after Rightsizing: 675
Number of switches decommissioned after Rightsizing: 14
Annual reduction in costs through Rightsizing: $149,796

3-Year Cost Assessment
Reduction in 'Rightsized Network' Costs (3 years): $449,389
Total 3-year cost savings through Rightsizing: $398,546

Savings Summary (Projected savings over next 3 years)
Savings from “Network Rightsizing”: $398,546
Savings from reduced IT support costs: $200,000
Savings from increased use of Vo-FI calling: $600,000
Savings from power, cabling and cooling costs: $ 50,000
Total projected savings over 3 years: $ 1,248,546

Is it possible to champion Green IT by shifting to Wi-Fi AND save money? You bet. Aruba’s IT infrastructure is living proof that Green IT can both save money and help the planet.